Abstract:The polar regions are presently changing faster than any other regions of the Ea rth, with both regional and global implications for societies, economics and eco systems. This is particularly evident in globally shrinking snow and ice, inclu ding reductions in the extent of glaciers and ice sheets, reductions in area, di minishing and warming permafrost and reductions in the extent and thickness of A rctic sea ice. Changing polar environments are closely linked to environmental change elsewhere on our planet，examples of the formation of the ozone hole by t he processes of the accumulation of pollutants from lower latitudes. Within the polar regions lie important scientific challenges yet to be investigated as wel l as unique vantage points for science. The regions beneath the polar ice sheets and under the ice covered oceans remain largely unknown. Many of the new scient ific frontiers in the polar regions are at the intersection of traditional scien tific disciplines. Therefore, International Polar Year(IPY) in 2007-2008 will s t art from 1 March 2007 cosponsored by the International Council of Scientific Un ions (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for making a great c ontribution to the study of polar meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, hy drology.